Vairagya is one of the most important values for spiritual life.
As a matter of fact, no spiritual life is ever possible without it. In his Yoga
Sutras Patanjali considers is, along with abhyasa, as a mighty
weapon for the control of thought waves.1 It is also one of the sadhana chatushtaya or four basic qualifications for an adhikari, a person competent for
Self-knowledge. Of these four qualifications, Shankaracharya considers Vairagya or renunciation, and mumukshatva or desire for liberation, as
most.2
One entire first canto of Vairagya
Prakarana forms a very important beginning of the opus magnum, Yoga Vasishtha or Vasistha Ramayana. In it is described the spirit of renunciation of
Lord Rama. Again, the royal sage, Bharthrihari of Ujjayanai city has written
100 verses on renunciation, which are famous by the name “Vairagya Shatakam”.
Although vairagya is an important value, in most of the people of the world,
vairagya never arises. In fact, many
of them are scared of it!! They are like
the man in Tolstoy’s parable, who, while passing through a forest accidentally
fell into a well but luckily grabbed the branch of a tree just above it. Below,
in the well a python was awaiting him to fall. Two rats were trying to cut the
branch and an elephant was shaking the tree’s roots. Just then he found drops
of honey dripping from a honey comb above. And, in spite of the imminent sure
fall and death, he stretched out his tongue to catch a drop of the dribbling
honey!” In spite of much eulogy of vairagya in religious literature, it is
unfortunate that even many spiritual aspirants do not pay as much attention to
it as it should be. They meditate, pray, chant the name of God, but due to lack
of vairagya, hey don’t gain anything,
like water flowing out through rat holes, instead of going into the fields.
What is Vairagya?
The Sanskrit word vairagya is translated variously. Swami Vivekananda translates it
as non-attachment. Swami Turiyananda in his translation of Vivekachudamani has equated it with renunciation. The other meaning
is dispassion. Sri Ramakrishna preferred the word tyaga, which means renunciation. He qualified it with two more
words and gave his favourite phrase kamini-kanchan
tyag or ‘renunciation of woman and gold.’
In Vedantasar,
vairagya is defined as: Ihamutra-phalabhoga-viraaga.3 This has been
explained in detail by the author, Sadananda, in the 17th sutra
thus: 'The objects of enjoyment, hereafter, such as immortality, etc., being as
transitory as the enjoyment of such earthly objects as a garland of flowers,
sandal paste, and sex-pleasures, which are transitory, being results of
action—an utter disregard for all of them is renunciation of all enjoyment of fruits
of action in this world and hereafter.' In the modern hedonistic world with
technical advancements, newer, subtler objects of enjoyment are being presented
by materialistic science. Disregard for all these also forms a part of true vairagya.
According to Shankaracharya, the
desire to give up objects―from the physical body to Brahmalok, the sphere of
Brahma―knowing them as impermanent is vairagya.4 When a spiritual
aspirant thinks of the impermanence and illusory nature of the objects of the world,
they then appear as worthless, unreal
and detestable. This feeling is true vairagya.
Patanjali defines it as Dristanusharavic visgaya vitrishnasya
vashikaara samgyaa vairagyam.5 'To have absolute disgust for seen or heard-of
objects of sense enjoyment'. In the commentary on this sutra, it is pointed out
that there are four grades of vairagya.
In the first, yataman, the aspirant
attempts to give up objects of enjoyment. In the second, vyatireka, he succeeds in giving up some. In the third, ekendrita, he attains a stage where
except for slight mental impression of enjoyment, the external objects are
given up. The fourth and the final grade
is called vashikara, that means
complete mastery, or never to be affected in the slightest degree even in the
presence of the objects of enjoyment or temptations.
It is obvious from this analysis of
the various definitions of vairagya
that it is basically a mental state of disgust, lack of interest and non-attachment.
It may or may not be associated with external renunciation. Someone may give up
everything outwardly but may not have internal renunciation. A beggar who has
nothing, may not have the spirit of renunciation, while another person might be
living in luxury may be completely detached inwards.
Vairagya is a negative value. It must
be combined with devotion, self-knowledge and abhyasa, practice of controlling the mind. Otherwise, it might
lead to depression or abnormal dryness of life as Lord Rama experienced in the
initial period of his life; this condition of his is described in the Yoga Vashishtha.
How to cultivate vairagya?
How does one cultivate vairagya? In
some great souls like the Buddha, Lalbaba of Bengal, Guru Nanak, and Saint
Tulasidas, vairagya might arise all of a sudden and remain for the rest of the
life. But most acquire it gradually after many bitter experiences in life. And
then they have to keep it up by constant discrimination and sustained effort.
To begin with, it is important to
impress deeply on one’s mind the supreme, absolute necessity of vairagya for
spiritual life. No compromise is possible in this regard. There had never been
and nor would ever be a path to God without total renunciation of all gross and
subtle desires and attachments. No one can cross the river straddling two boats.
Our mind might present arguments to make compromises. And they might present
arguments to make compromises and they might appear necessary in the initial
stages. But one must always remember that ultimately, we will have to give up everything for the sake of God. Tulsidas
has rightly said:
Jaha kama taha Rama nahi; Jaha Ram
taha nahi Kama.
Tulasi kabahu na hot hai ravi
rajani ek tham.
'Rama cannot be there where there is desire for
enjoyment; and desire cannot be in him be in him who has Rama in his heart.
Like sun and night, Tulsi says, they
can’t stay together.”
Life of great saints
One of the most effective means of
vairagya is to study the life of saints full of renunciation. The Christian
saint, St. Francis, for example, disowned even the cloths he was wearing; he
had received it from his father. Sri Ramakrishna could not, even unknowingly
touch metal or coin. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was not only a great devote of
God, he was full of tremendous renunciation. There are scores of such examples
scattered in the life of saints.
Study of Religious Books
Study of religious books also helps
greatly in developing disgust for the world and its objects. For example, in
the celebrated Christian book The
Imitation of Christ it is said: 'It is vanity then to seek
after, and to trust in, the riches that shall perish. It is vanity, too, to covet
honors, and to lift up ourselves on high. It is vanity to follow the desires of
the flesh and be led by them, for
this shall bring misery at the last. It is vanity to desire a long life, and to
have little care for a good life. It is vanity to take
thought only for the
life which now is, and not to look forward to the
things which shall be hereafter. It is vanity to love that which quickly passes away, and not to hasten where eternal
joy abides.6
Love of God
Vairagya, as has been said, is a negative value. Its positive
counterpart is love for God. If this be intense, vairagya for the world
naturally arises in the heart. But, alas, it is not so easy to have such
burning all-consuming love for God. Non-the-less, constant remembrance of God,
chanting His name and singing His glories must be continued.
A Sufi saint had a vision: He saw that
Allah, after creating the human beings, presented to them the enjoyments of the
world. 90% humans were attracted. To the remaining, he showed the pleasures of
heaven. Again 90% of these were tempted. To the remaining he showed the horrors
of hell. 90% were afraid and ran away. To the remaining few, he asked what they
aspired for? These rare few, who were nor attracted by worldly and heavenly
pleasures, nor were afraid of hellfire, out of humility lowered their eyes and
modestly said: 'You already know what we want!'
A gradual external renunciation of
objects of enjoyment also helps in developing the spirit of renunciation. It
may be easy to give up attachment for things like a wrist watch, or a fountain
pen, and even the desire for wealth. But it is difficult to give away
attachment to parents, wife and children. Jesus Christ has said some very bold
words: 'If any one comes to me and hates not his father and mother, and wife
and children, and brother and sister, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be
my disciple.'7
At times, means of spiritual
advancements like singing devotional song, study of scriptures, service of the
poor, turn into vasanas, or
obsessions. Even those who have renounced the things of the world, are, according to sages, seen to fall into the
trap of three types of desires: a desire for name and fame, power, position and
social prestige; desire for more and more study of scriptures, art and music,
or desire to engage in the rituals described in the scriptures; and giving too much
importance to the upkeep of the physical body; these are called: Loka-vasana; shastra-vasana; deha-vasana.8 All these subtle
or gross desires have to be renounced by keen discrimination, which is
described in books like Jivanmukti-viveka.
Even the spiritual joy granted by God to a spiritual aspirant has to be
ultimately renounced by him. While this may not be a problem in the initial
stages, an aspirant must at least keep this in mind.
Discrimination
The most important means for
developing disgust is viveka or
discrimination. In Sri Ramakrishna’s life and teachings we find some very
striking examples of these. He was of the view that minor desires could be
given up with discrimination with a little enjoyment, while major ones should
be given up only with the help of discrimination, without taking the risk of
enjoying them. He once had a desire to put on a costly robe and eat a specific
sweet-dish. He did don the robe while discriminating about the evil effects of
that act, so also with the sweet. He, after discriminating that fundamentally a
silver coin was nothing more than a lump of clay, threw the coin into the Ganga
and thus renounced it forever. Likewise,
he discriminated and renounced from his already pure mind all possible
attraction for a woman’s body.
Viveka or discrimination could be of various types.
1. Consideration of Fear: Bhratihari
beautifully describes this in the Vairagya
Shatakma: 'In enjoyment there is fear of disease; in social position, fear
of falling-off, in wealth, fear of hostile kings; in honour the fear of
humiliation, in power the fear of foemen; in beauty the fear of old age; in
scriptural erudition, the fear of opponents; in virtue, the fear of
traducers; in body the fear of death.
All things of the world pertaining to men are attended with fear. Renunciation
alone stands for fearlessness.'9
2. Consideration of Suffering behind
everything: According to Patanjali, for a person of discrimination, everything is
attached with suffering. The wise see suffering in all experience, whether from
the anguish of impermanence, or from latent impressions laden with suffering,
or from incessant conflict as the fundamental qualities of nature vie for
ascendancy.10
3. Asuchi
or Consideration of Impurity of the body: The seeds of the physical body,
its location in mother’s womb and its ingredients are impure; impure matter
oozes out of its pores, it needs constant cleaning, and at death is considered
impure. For these reasons the physical body is considered impure by the wise.11
4. Feeing of Disgust or Remorse. A
person may get vairagya by the
feeling of disgust or remorse or
repentance, considering the sinful, evil
or careless, life led so far by him or
her.
Thus there could be many
discriminative considerations. These discriminative exercises are called anupreksha12 or bhavanas in Jainism. Each has been explained in detail in Jain
scriptures with the help of stories.
Let us not be afraid of vairagya.
There cannot be true freedom without vairagya.
References
1. Yoga Sutras, I:12
2. Vivekachudamani.
29
3. Vedantasara.
15
4. Vivekachudamani.
21
5. Yoga Sutras. I:15
6. The
Imitation of Christ. Book I, Chapter 1
7. Luke. 14:26
8. Viveakchudamani.
271
9. Vairya Shatakam. 31
10. Yoga Sutras. II:15
11. Ibid. Commentary on II. 5
12. Jain Anuprekshas: www.jainworld.com
